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Big brands planning to increase global media budgets despite economic climate

Big brands expect to increase their marketing budgets. 60% of company representatives will increase their global media budgets in 2024 – with 14% saying they will make a significant increase, year on year, according to a report from World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) and media investment analysis firm Ebiquity. The increase comes despite 74% agreeing or strongly agreeing that their 2024 media budget decisions are influenced by the economic climate.

“With 60% of respondents planning to increase advertising budgets, we see a level of confidence that seems contradictory to the prevailing economic outlook. With advertising typically seen as a two-quarter leading indicator of the wider economy, does this signify a recovery coming in mid-2024?” says Nick Waters, CEO Ebiquity.

“This is a relatively dramatic increase compared to the same time last year, when just 29% of respondents said they expected to increase their annual budget”, the report says. 

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The study is based on 92 company respondents, each spending $700 million on average. The total combined ad spend of all respondents represents approximately $500 billion, WFA says.

“There is some cautious optimism returning to media spending and, predictably, the money is flowing towards digital”, says Stephan Loerke, CEO of WFA.

“However, to enable longer-term digital market growth, we have to fix key issues of quality, transparency, responsibility, measurement and, importantly, sustainability. We call on the industry to rally around the steps outlined in the WFA’s new Media Charter. Fix the fundamentals to unlock growth.” 

The report says that unsurprisingly, digital is the main recipient of the likely spend increase. Budget increases are forecasted by 85% of advanced TV and 83% of digital video company respondents. Print is forecast to experience the greatest decrease in budget.

“Reassuringly, respondents to this survey are making unilateral progress: 70% of respondents regularly review brand safety setting and lists. 27% of respondents began diversifying investments outside of ‘big tech’, in order to promote a more plural ecosystem.”

“Almost two fifths of respondents (37%) also hope to measure and reduce CO2 emissions from media activity.”

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